The No. 22 Massachusetts women’s lacrosse team hit the road and dominated during its Sunday matinee opener, disposing of Boston University 23-13 at Nickerson Field.
The Minutewomen (1-0) started hot and never looked back, despite the 358 days since they last took the field. They scored 23 goals as evenly as possible, with 11 in the first half and 12 in the second. Head coach Angela McMahon praised the team’s focus over the extended break and credited the leadership and veterans on the team for keeping the Minutewomen calm.
“We’ve been day-to-day. We don’t get too much further than the 24 hours that’s in front of us,” McMahon said. “We’ve been relaxed all week long, where maybe in years past we’d be a little bit more jittery or overly anxious.”
UMass and BU (0-2) both came out fast with high-octane offenses. There was a total of eight goals scored in the first nine minutes, before a 16-7 run by the Minutewomen put any semblance of competition to bed.
The offense ran through senior Haley Connaughton who netted five with three coming unassisted. She scored the first goal of the game just 1:22 in, and somehow upped herself in the second half when she scored after a mere 34 seconds of action. The Westwood native also provided for her teammates, tossing out four assists.
Only four goals for UMass’ were scored by non-senior or non-graduate students. That said, a total of 10 players found the back of the net as the overwhelming attack scored 17 goals in the 18:53 that Boston’s starting goalie Kennady Smith was in net.
While a lavish offensive attack was key in the season opener, their stingy defense shouldn’t be ignored. The Minutewomen forced 21 turnovers compared to 14 of their own and took a 21-17 edge on draw control. Caitlyn Petro handles most of the draw control responsibility, as the tallest player on the team at 5-foot-11.
“Any time the ball is within a stick’s length of her, I have full trust that she’s going to come up with it,” said McMahon.
Courtney Barrett held strong on the defensive end, forcing a game-high three turnovers. Coach McMahon emphasized the importance of stopping the quick runs by the Terriers before they got out of hand and said that the constant stops on defense and responding to Boston’s scoring early on was key in the victory.
UMass has now won five of their last six, extending back to last season’s five games played before the season was suspended. Next up for the Minutewomen is No. 13 Boston College (2-0) on Tuesday at 3 p.m.
Dylan Corey can be reached at [email protected]. He can be followed on Twitter @thedylancorey.
